Knitted fabric and mode of making same.



No- 830.374.. PATENTED SEPT. 4, 1906.

R. W'. SCOTT. KNITTED FABRIC AND MODE 0F MAKING SAME.

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KNITTED FABRIC AND MODE 0F MAKING SAME.'

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R. W. SCOTT. KNITT-ED PABRIGAND` MODE 0F MAKING SAME.

APPLICATION FII'IED 00T.11, 1905.

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. PATENTEE SEPT. 4, 190e. E. W. SCOTT.l KNITTED EABEIC AND MODE 0E MAKING SAME.

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'LU GI lUixnyTiin lSTATES- PATENT OEEIOE.

ROBERT w. scorr', OE LEEDS POINT,` NEW JERSEY, .AssiGNoE OE ONE- HALE To LOUIS N. ln. wiLLiAMS, OE OGONTZ, PENNSYLvANiA.

'KNiTT'Eo FABRIC AND MODE OF MAKING SAME.

l u' `Speclcation of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 4, 1906.

Application filed-October l1, 1905. Serial No. 2821341.

To @ZZ whom,v itV may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT W. SCOTT, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Leeds Point, Atlantic county,y New Jersey, have in- `vented certain Improvements in Knitted Fabrics and in Modes of- Making Same, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that' class of knitted fabrics which are partly ribbed and partly `plain and in which there is an excess of wales inthe ribbed fabric as compared with the number of wales in the plain fabric, the object of my invention being to produce a machine-knit fabric of tins character in which i5 the change from-rib-stitch to plain stitch or the reverse can be readily effected by nianiplulation Tof the needles and without stopping the machine or requiring the intervention of an attendant, the invention being therefore zo especially adapted for use 'in the manufac ture of hosiery upon automatic knitting-maH chinos.:

. In thc'accompanying drawings, Figures 1,

2, 3, 4, and represent, on a niuch exaggerated scale, various fabrics niade in accordance with .my invention and in which the change` is from rib-knitting to plain knitting. Figs. 6, 7,l and 8 arelike viewsV showing webs of the saine characters as Figs: 1, 2, and 3,

3o but in which the change is from. plain knitting to rib-knitting. Fig. 9 is a diagram showing the relai-ive arrangement of cylinder and dial needles in a machine for producing fabrics such as sliowiiiii Figs. 1 and 6. Fig.

3 5 1() is aisiinilar view showing the relative arrangement of.dial and cylinder' needles in a machine for producing fabrics such as shown in Figs. 2 and f7'.' FigflIis a similar ,view showing the arrangement of Ycylinder and 4o dial needles in ay machine for producing fabrios such assliownfinfFigs. Sand 8. Fig. 12 is a similar vicwsliowing the relative arrangement of cylinder and dialiiecdles in a machine for vproduciiig fabrics-sueltas sliownin Fig. 4.

* FigLi Iis a View showing a 'complete 'set of cvlinder'anrl 'dial needles; some of the dial-need les haviiig been'inioved intoposition for transtferriiig their stitches to the cylinder-needles. VVffligflit isa vertical sectional view of su'lli- 5o 'cient of Ea 'knittiugmacliine to illustrate-the '1 iii'eih'od'of transfer, the dial-'needle being pro- "L jccteil so as to bring-'its stitch into position for being-engaged'by the cylinder-needle,the

latter being shown in engagement with the stitch. Fig. 15 is a siinilarview to Fig. 1d, but showing the dial-needle retracted and its stitch cast onto the cylinder-needle; and F 16 is a view of a special cylinder-needle whii is sometimes employed. i

In Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the drawings, a rep-` resents plain-stitch wales which exteiidz throughout both the ribbed and plain webs, b represents composite wales having ribstitches in the ribbed web and plain stitches in the plain web and d represents lib-stitch walesl which at the point of change ofl the Webs are discontinued and interknitted with or merged into adjoining plain-stitch wales. Plain-stitch wales may be described as those having all of their stitches drawn to theface of the web, rib-stitch wales asV those having all of their stitches drawn to the back of the web, and composite Wa'le..-."as those having their stitches drawn to the back of the web in the ribbed portion and to the face of the' web in the plain portion, there being a reversal in the direction of the stitches in these wales at the ribbed to plain web.

In producing the fabric shown in Fig. 1 I use a machine having the dial and cylinder needles disposed as shown in Fig. 9, in which a: represents cylinder-needles,.which are always in action for the production of continuous plainestitch wales. fw represents cylinderneedles, which are not in action during the point of change from production of ribbed web, but receive stitches from certain of the dial-needles in effecting thechange from ribbed web to plain web. y represents those dial-needles which transfer their stitches to the` cylinder-needles w, and y represents dial-needles upon which are formed the wales ofthe ribbed web, which are in excess of those in the plain web, these dial-needles in changing from ribbed web to plain web being put out of vaction after hav-A ing first transferred their stitches to adjoining cyliiider-needles, on which said stitches are doubled with the stitches already carried, v

by said cylinder-needles.

In Figi of the drawin As, 1, 2, and 3 represent courses of ribbedwe ,5, 6, and7 represent courses of plain'web, and 4 represents the change course, y2 representing the stitches which aretransferred from the dial-needles f z/ to theV formerly inactive cylinder-needles w,

`and g3 representing the stitches which have been transferred from the dial-needles y to the adjoining cylinder-needles `and doubled upon the latter with the stitches already car'- ried thereby.

The fabric shown in Fig. 1 is a fone-andone rib-Web-that is to say, one in which each cylinder or plain-stitch Wale alternates with a dial or rib stitch Wale-and in eecting vthe change in this fabric one-half of the dial-needles have Vtransferred their stitches straight vorv to previously inactive and naked cylinder-needles, the alternate dialneedles doubling or transferring their ribbed Web than in the plain Web.

stitches to already occupied cylinder-needles. This is what is termed a thirtythree and one-third per cent. doubling, there being thirty-three and one-third per cent. more Wales in the ribbed web thanin the plain web.

The fabric shown in Fig. 2 is a one-andone rib-Web, in Which what is termed a fifty-per-cent. doubling has been effected,- there being fifty per cent. more Wales in the This is accomplished by causing a straight transfer from one-third ofthe dial-needles and 'a doubling transfer from the remaining twothirds ofsaid needles, the disposition of the needles in the cylinder and dial for producing this Web being shown in Fig. 10, in which z/ represents straight transfer dial-needles and y `doubling transfer-needles.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a two-and-two ribbed lWeb, in which change from rib-knitting to plain knitting has been effected in accordance With my invention, the disposition l of the cylinder and dial needles in a machine Afor producing this class of web being shown in Fig. 11.

In each of the fabrics shown in Figs. l, 2,

and 3 there are a series of composite wales b and a corresponding series of discontinued Wales d, individual members of one series alternating with individual members of the other series, but this disposition of the respective Wales is not essential to the broader embodiment of my invention. For instance, in Fig. 4 I have shown a fabric in which all of the compositewales b are grouped in one portion of theweb and all of the discontinued. Wales d are grouped in another portion of the Web,the disposition of the cylinder and dialY rality of terminal stitches e in the` discontinued Wales, Which terminal stitches' are connected by sinker-Wales e" and are relieved. from strain exerted upon the adjoining standy ing Wales.l l(See Fig. 5.)

My invention can also be embodied in Webs in which the change' is from plain knitting to rib-knitting'instead ofthe reverse, as before described. Thus Fig. Gillustrates a Web inv which after producing plain Web upon all of the cylinder-needles and w the stitchesare -dles wat, I shog or move laterally Asaid dialneedles y before projecting them between the cylinder-needles .to receive theyarn.

vConsequently each dial-needle y is projected between a cylinder-needlev :n and a cylinderneedle Iw and after receiving its yarn is then made to resume its normal position between the cylinder-needles :r the initial loop y* of the Wale d being therefore, drawn across the adjoining standing Wale a, as shown in Fig. 6. This produces a Web having thirty-three and one-third per cent.' more lfwales in the ribbed portion than in the plain portion, as in roo Figql. In Fig. 7 I have shown a web in which the change is made from plain Web to ribbed web in the manner before described, but upon a machine of the character shown. in Fig. 10, so as to produce fifty percent. 105 more Wales in the rlbbed Web than in the plain web. v

In Fig. S I have shown a web inwhich the change is from plain Web to tWo-and-two ribbed web, such change being effected upon ric/ a machine of the character shown in Fig. l1.

In carrying out my invention various forms of machine may beemployed, but in Figs. 14' and 15 I have shown suflicient of the elements, of one form of machine which has proven effective in practice to impart a proper understandingof the method of manipulating the needles to effect the transfer of stitches fromjone ,to another. In these views, 10 represents part of a needle-cylinder I and 11 part of adial on the inside of the cylinder. The dial-needlesy y are carried b the lower ends of jacks 12, pivotally mounte upon a fixed ring 13 and having their uppe` ends acted upon bycams carried by acamplate 14, this plate having two sets of'cams;` one for acting upon the jacks so as to cause operation of the dial-needles 'for ordinary knitting and another set for causing abnormal projectior...of th e dial-needles, so as Ito;j1 ,e

ca 'them outwardly be ond -the cylindernee es. This has the e ect .of drawing or stretching the Web, so as to disposestitches of the same'over the cylinder, as shown in 14, so that cylinder-,needles maybe projected and caused to enter saidv stitches, as also shown in said Fig. 14, the dial-needles 'y preserving their normal ositionwhile being -thus projected, so that t eir stitches Will be dis osed above cylinder-needles w, but the dia -needles y being shogged or moved laterally from their normal position,so that their stitches Will be disposedabove appropriate cylinder-needles The projection of the dial-needles may be such as either to bring the stitches upon them or recedently-formed stitches above the cylin er-needles Which are to 'engage the same. Y

When the cylinder-needles are projected, so as to enter the stitches Vuponthe dial-needles, either of the said needles may be moved laterally to the extent necessary to cause engagement of the c linder-needles with the dial-stitches, and t e dial-needles can then be Withdrawn, so as Ato cast their stitches onto the cylinder-needles preparatory to the formation of plain web upon the latter. When the cylinder-needles engage stitches other than those upon the dial-needles, the lateral movement referred to will vnot be necessary. In changing from plain web to ribbed Web cylinder-needles w may be abnormally projected, so as to transfer their stitches to the dial-needles y, in which case said cylinderneedles w will be provided with projections or butts-such, for instance, as shown at fw', Fig. 16, for stretching the cylinder-stitches and permitting the dial-needles to enter and engage the same.

In any of the machines used for roducing my improved fabric the cylinder is y preference cut' or Grooved, so as to present 'a uniform gage whereby a corresponding uniform gage of plain web is insured, and although there maybe a lack of uniformity in the cutting of the dial substantial uniformity of gage in the ribbed fabric may be attained b so manipulating those needles of the dial which occupy the closer relation to the cylinderneedles as to provide an excessof yarn tending to produce a substantially equidistant disposal ofthe wales in the ribbed portion of the web. Forinsta nce, these closely-disposed dial-needles may at the time that the stitches are being formed upon them be raised to a. greater extent above the cyliiuler-needles than are the other dial-needles, or the closelydisposed dial-needles may constitute the primary or stitch-drawing needles and may be retracted to a greater extent. than the, other dial-needles, or the exeessdraft may be caused bythe cyliIu-ler-needles when these are the primary needles.

The spreading of the wales of stitches in the'various views of the dravvings is not apparent in the finished fabric, as the greater contractile power of the ribbed web causes itssurface Wales to lie as closely together as those'of the plain Web. i

Various dlspositions of the needles of the dial and cylinder may be resorted to in order to roduce-any desired character of ribbed We but the following formula may be relied upon-as a uide for determining the relative number of standing Wale-needles, transfer-needles, and doubling-needles in the machine. Let A equal'the total number of cylinder-needles, B e ual the total number of dial-needles, C equa the total number of transfer-needles, D equal the total number of doubling-needles, then A minus C equals B and B minus C equals D. The rule for doubling may also be expressed as follows: Ifvv the number of transfer-needles in the cylinder is one in three, a thirty-three and onethird per cent. doublinir Will result; if the number of transfer-needles in the cylinder is one in four, a fifty per cent. doubling Will be effected; if it is one in five, there will be a sixty per cent. doubling, and so on.` y

My improved fabric can be knitted without arresting the operation of the'machine and by the use of a continuous thread, it being understood that the knitting-cams and 'the transfer-cams are disposed at points so remote from' each other that the knitting operation can be going forward upon certain o the needles of the machine while stitches are ybeing transferred from and to other needles of the machine at a point more or less remote from the knitting-point. Thus in Fig. 13 X re resents the knitting-point and Y the trans er and doubling point.

The use of a continuous thread common to both the ribbed and plain webs distinguishes v IOO IlO

natingwith each other throughout the extent of the fabric, whereas ,in the ordinary,A method of running on a ribbed fabric, upon the needles of a' plain-Web machine the stitches'of the ribbed web are transferred consecutively to the needles of the plain-web machine throughout a certain extent 0f the latter, the excess stitches being crowded upon the remaining needles. For instance, in transferrin(Y a ribbed web' having one hundred and eighty/wales to,a plain-Webmachine having one hundred and twenty needles eighty consecutive Wales of the ribbed web may be transferred to eighty successive needles of the plain-web machine, and the re-` maining eighty wales of said ribbed web may be crowded upon the, remaining forty needles of said plain-Web machine, there being no designed alternation of straight transfers and doublings, as in my improved fabric.

My invention is not limited to a web cornposed of a single continuous yarn, since it is manifest that different yarns may be employed in either web when it is desired to produce a striped or mixed effect therein by the useiof yarns of different colors supplied to the needles by different yarn-feeds, but even in that casethere will be courses of stitches knitted with a continuous yarn common to both webs, although the term continuous does not necessarily imply unbroken continuity, as yarns of dierent color or character may be used in differentportions of the web, so long as the meeting ends of said yarns overlap or provide for a continuous feed of yarn to needles of one and the same machine.

It is manifest also that the transferred and doubled stitches may be in different courses of the fabric-that is to say, after the straight'transfer of the stitches'of certain of the rib-Wales' one or more courses may be knitted before the doubling transfer-and the reverse of this proposition is equally true.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A machine-knit fabric, partly ribbed and partly plain, having av continuous yarn common to both Webs, the ribbed web having wales in excess of those in the plain web, and some of the wales of one web being revert'sedand continued as Wales of the other we 2, A machine-knit fabric, partly ribbed and partly lain, having a continuous yarn common to oth webs, theribbed web hav` ling Wales in excess of those in the plain web, some of the wales of.one web being reversed and continued as Wales of the other Web, and the excess wales'bein'g discontinued at the point where the character of the fabric changes.

A machine-knit fabric,(partly ribbedV and partly plain, having a continuous yarn common to both Webs, the riabed web have ing wales inexcess of those in the plain web, some of the wales of one web being reversed and continued as Wales of the other/web, andv the excess wales being interknitted vwith stsnding wales at the acter of the fabric chan es.

4. A machine-knit abrio, partly ribbed and partly plain, having a continuous yarn common to both webs, andhaving a plain web of uniform gage and a ribbed web having Wales in excess of those in the plain web, some of the Wales-of one =Web being reversed.

and continued as Wales of the other Web.

5. A machine-.knit fabric, partly ribbed and partly plain,l havingra continuous yarn point Where the char`y common to both Webs, and having a plain Web of uniform gage and a ribbed web having Wales in excess of those in the plain web,

some of the wales of one Web being reversed and continued as Wales of the other Web, and the excesswales being discontinued at 'the point where the character lof. the fabric changes.

6. A machine-knit fabric, partly ribbed and partly plain, having a continuous yarn common to both Webs,' and having a plain web of uniform gage and a ribbed web having Wales in excess of those in the plain Web, some of the wales of one web being reversed and continued as Wales of the other web, and the excess Wales being interknitted with standing Wales at the point Where the character of the fabric changes.

7. A machine-kn it fabric, partly ribbedv and partly plain, having a continuous yarn.

common to both webs, both the plain web and the ribbed Web being of uniform gage,

the ribbed web having Wales in excess of i Ione web being reversed and continued as Wales of the other web, and the excess Wales being discontinued at the point where the character of the fabric changes.

9. A machine-knit fabric, partly ribbed and partly plain, having a continuous yarn common to both Webs, both the plain web and the ribbed Web being of uniform gage, the ribbed web having Wales in excess of those in the plain web, some of the Wales of one web being reversed and continued as Wales of the other Web, and the excess Wales being interknitted Wi th standing Wales at the point where the character of the fabric changes. l

10. A machine-knit fabric, partly ribbed IOC and partly plain, having in the ribbed Web i Wales in excess of those in the plain web,

some of the Wales of one Web beingreversed and continued as Wales .of the other. Web', and the excess: wales being discontinued at the point where the character of the Webs changes, the individual members of a series of such discontinuedv Wales alternating With the individual members of a corresponding series of reversed' and continued wales.

1l. Thev Inode herein described of' changing from one character of web to another'in a fabric which is partly plain and partly ribbed, said mode consisting in first itting ribbed fabric upon two vsets of needles, and then transferring some ofthe rib-stitches to naked to needles of saidset Which have alreadybeen in action and have stitches upon them.

12. As an improvement vin that method of changing from one character vof web to another in'a machine-knit fabric, partly plain and partly ribbed, which consists in transferring Wales of one face of the web to Wales of the other face of the Web, the mode herein described of effecting such transfer, said mode consisting in stretcbin in the direction of their length only the stitc es which are to be transferred, and projectin the receivingneedles into said stitches Whi e the are thus stretched, and then casting sai stitches from the needles upon which they were formed. ,Y

13. As an improvement in that method of changing from one character of web to another in a machine-knit fabric which is partly ribbed and partly plain7 Vwhich consists in transferring stitches of Wales of one face of the web to Wales of the other face ofthe Web, the mode herein described of effecting such transfer, which mode consists in stretching in the direction of their len th and laterally vshogging those stitches whic are to be transferred and projecting the receiving-needles into such stitches While they are thus stretched and shogged, and then casting said stitches from the needles upon which they Were formed.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to .this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ROBERT W. SCOTT. 

